send out bottles,
to the merciless sea –
let yourself bleed into them,
with all you have to give,
and even what you don’t.
 
only when you are empty,
down to the last ounces of your being,
can you place a cap on the bottle,
write a note,
tie it around your vessel,
and lower it into the ocean.
 
then, hesitantly,
let your fingers undo themselves
from the bottle’s neck.
 
let go.
 
watch as it is carried away
by the swelling currents,
to a place unknown.
 
lose track of time as you wait,
until you can’t even feel the difference,
between the days and nights.
 
until it returns,
on a night when the stars
have all but lost their wonder —
 
empty.
 
this time,
you promise to write “please”,
a little neater.
 
this time,
you’ll become hollow,
and forget that you were the one,
with the strength to say.